Beginner's Luck
by Darth Claire
Summary: Ryoma is determined to have Momo be his first kiss. MomoRyo, Shounenai, kissing. Please Review!


Title: Beginner's Luck

Author: Darth Claire

Beta: NiennaAngel

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Momo/Ryo

Disclaimer: Pot is not mine. This was written for the Hatsukoi competition at the LJ community ahunpair.

Summary: Ryoma is determined to have Momo as his first kiss.

A/N: Thanks a bunch to Skyangel 2009 for the beta, the title, and a few random lines!

OoooooO 

Echizen Ryoma was never bad at anything he attempted. He had incredible beginner's luck and could pick most things up by reading about them. The only time this had not been true was the first time he had tried to play doubles, but he didn't like to think about that. They had still won after all. He was a prodigy at almost anything he tried, so when he hatched his plan to confess his love to his senpai, Momoshiro Takeshi, he did not expect such disastrous results.

At the end of his freshman year, Ryoma was the smallest person on the team. He had hit a growth spurt and he was no longer a short little kid, but in some ways this was worse. Instead of being short and lean as he had been when he started at Seigaku, he was now average height and skinny. He was only an inch shorter than Fuji-senpai, but his growth had been purely vertical and he lacked the tensai's slender grace. To make matters worse, Momo had kept growing as well. He was now as tall as Tezuka and unlike Ryoma, the rest of his body had followed suit. He had also started wearing his hair down in a much less absurd style which framed his face better. With his height, his muscular body and those laughing violet eyes, Momo always made Ryoma's heart flutter every time he saw his senpai while his stomach turned every time he saw himself in the mirror. Momo was handsome and Ryoma was an underfed alley cat.

It didn't help that Momo seemed to notice this. He would tease Ryoma nonstop about being so skinny, but Ryoma was puzzled to discover that he didn't mind Momo's taunts.

"_Hoi, Echizen, you're nothing but skin and bones! Don't you eat?!"_ Momo would always say. Ryoma would always brush it off with the same indifferent response he always gave.

"_Mada mada dane."_

Then Momo would laugh and it was all Ryoma could do not to smile like one of his boy-crazy fans.

"_Come on! I'm force feeding you burgers until you stop being a scrawny little runt!"_

This afternoon ritual would always end with an afternoon snack and a quiet walk or bike ride home. Somehow Ryoma just couldn't bring himself to be angry about the teasing when it led to those afternoons alone with his friend. Yet for all the attention and free food Ryoma still felt that something was missing. Momo cared about him, but Ryoma wanted more. He wanted Momo to be his boyfriend. He wanted the trips to the burger joint to be a date. He wanted to, well he wasn't quite sure what else he wanted to do, but he was sure they would work it out if he could only figure out a way to tell him. The problem was that he needed some sort of incentive. He could tell that Momo valued their friendship too much to risk what they already had for a slim promise of something more. If he wanted Momo to be his boyfriend, he had to prove that there was some advantage to being boyfriends over being friends before he could ask him out and he needed to do it soon. Momo had finally broken up with Tachibana Ann and from what Ryoma knew of Momo's dating habits he had only a brief window to confess before someone else did. Momo was not hurting for admirers nor was he terribly picky. Ryoma had been waiting for this chance since July and he wasn't going to waste it. He just needed some way to get Momo's attention.

Ryoma pondered this dilemma as he walked to afternoon practice. Too wrapped up in his thoughts to pay attention to the familiar route to the club house he turned the corner and stopped dead as he came across the Golden Pair.

Oishi slowly pulled away from the deep kiss feeling Eiji sag heavily in his arms. Both of them were flushed, panting for breath and too wrapped up in each other to notice or care that they were being observed.

"Syuichiro," Eiji whispered. "I love it when you kiss me like that. It always makes my knees go weak."

"Good. I hope this one will make you a puddle on the floor." Oishi smiled and leaned back in, his eyes drifting closed as he claimed his partner's eager lips.

Ryoma backed away and concealed himself around the corner to watch the Golden Pair's technique. He knew now what else he wanted to do with Momo and he knew how he could tell him.

**OoooooO**

After practice the next day Ryoma waited in the locker room as he usually did for Momo to show up Momo would be the captain when the new term started and he was already busy getting things in order. Most other people had already left so it wouldn't be difficult to get Momo alone for a few minutes. Seeing the Golden Pair had given him an idea which was much more his style than some a bashful confession or a wordy, poetic love letter, not that he would be caught dead doing either one. He would let Momo be his first kiss.

Ryoma glared impatiently at the door. How long did it take to discuss the training schedule for the week anyway? After what seemed like and eternity Momo finally came in. Ryoma stood up and put his plan into action.

"Hey, Echizen, your scrawny butt is going to have to stay scrawny today. Tezuka-buchou wants to show me something and it's going to take a while, so go on without me." Momo said apologetically. Ryoma felt a small surge of panic, but it would be fine. He only needed a few minutes.

"Ok, Momo-chan, but can you help me with something first?" he asked. "It'll just take a minute." Momo had spent the last few months trying to convince Ryoma to drop the senpai and call him Momo-chan like everyone else did. Ryoma was currently alternating between the two, still favoring the senpai, but for this, he figured -chan would be the best way to go.

"Sure what?" Momo asked, smiling happily at Ryoma's use of his nickname. It was strange having his best friend call him senpai when the rest of his kouhai addressed him less formally. He only hoped that Echizen wouldn't drop both forms of address all together and start calling him Momo-buchou.

"There's something I saw Oishi-senpai and Eiji-senpai doing that I want to try," Ryoma said evenly, his golden eyes shining with determination.

"Ok, but you know we suck as a doubles pair." Momo sighed and reached for his tennis racket. Ryoma took a hold of his hand and stopped him.

"It's not tennis," he said vaguely.

"What did you see them doing?" Momo asked, curious as to what else could the Golden Pair have been doing that would interest Echizen.

Ryoma blushed and looked away. "They were kissing."

"Ki-!" Momo yelled in astonishment. He was glad Ryoma hadn't asked him that over burgers or he would have choked. "You want to-!?" Why did Ryoma want to kiss him?

"I just wanted to see what it was like," Ryoma shrugged, trying to act casual. "Is that a no?" He cocked his head to the side cutely as he had seen Eiji-senpai do earlier. That move had received a positive reaction from Oishi-senpai so maybe it would work on Momo as well.

"Well I don't really mind," Momo said, calmer now that the initial shock of Ryoma's proposal had worn off. "But do you really want to kiss _me_?"

"Sure, why not?" Ryoma pressed. Momo was being much more resistant to this than he had expected.

"Well it's your first kiss, right?" Momo asked scratching the back of his head nervously. He hoped he wasn't jumping to conclusions, but Ryoma was his best friend. Certainly he would have mentioned something like that. "Don't you think you should save it for someone you like?"

Ryoma let the question hang in the air for a minute. "I like _you_ Momo-chan."

Momo put Ryoma in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles against his friend's head. "I should hope so you little twit! I'm your best friend, aren't I?"

Ryoma hid his disappointment at the response by squirming and yelling for Momo to stop. He had intentionally been vague enough that Momo would have room to interpret his confession in a more platonic sense if he wanted to spare Ryoma's feelings, but Ryoma got the feeling that Momo didn't quite understand.

"Well since I'm your best friend, help me out and kiss me."

"You don't want to save that for someone else?" Momo asked.

Ryoma scowled for a split second at Momo's stubbornness. He was bound and determined to get Momo to kiss him and he was prepared to use any argument necessary. Once he had kissed Momo senseless he could take back the excuses and tell Momo how he felt.

"What if I'm bad and I screw it up?"

Momo chuckled. He couldn't imagine Ryoma being bad at anything, but it was his duty as Ryoma's senpai to help him out. It wasn't like it was _his_ first kiss. Momo had kissed lots of people and gone far beyond. It was just a friendly kiss after all and Ryoma wasn't a bad looking guy, little skinny, but still attractive. "Ok."

Ryoma and Momo turned to face each other. Ryoma wetted his lips and closed his eyes. He tilted his head up and puckered his lips. Momo leaned in until they were almost touching. Ryoma felt Momo's hot breath on his face and leaned in to close the distance.

"You're sucking on my nose," Momo said. Ryoma's eyes flew open and he jumped back.

"Sorry," he said, flustered. "Let's try it again." They closed their eyes and both tilted their heads to the side. Ryoma yelped as they bashed their noses together.

"Momo!" he yelled. "You're supposed to tilt your head to the other side!"

"I was tilting it the way I always tilt it!" Momo protested. "Maybe we should do this with our eyes open."

"No, you're not supposed to kiss like that!" Ryoma insisted. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it right. He grabbed Momo's head and pulled him into a kiss. They both recoiled as their teeth collided.

"Fun uf a bish!" Momo yelled through his hand. "I'll have a great time explaining THAT chipped tooth to my Mom."

"Let's try again," Ryoma said, his voice full of determination. Momo held up his hand.

"Another time. I have to go talk to Buchou." Momo ruffled Echizen's hair affectionately and walked out. Ryoma scowled at his defeat. He would not let this stand. He would kiss Momo and it would be good. He grabbed his tennis bag and headed out to the book store.

OoooooO 

The next day after practice Ryoma waited for Momo in the locker room, using his time alone to brush up on some of the details of what he had read last night. He had gotten a few strange looks yesterday when he had asked for a book on kissing, but he had ignored them. He had also found a very helpful book with diagrams and excellent descriptions of different techniques. He had practiced kissing on his hand as the book had mentioned and he felt confident that this time would be it. This time he would kiss Momo until his toes curled and then he would tell his senpai that he wanted to kiss him like that every day.

"Hey, Echizen!" Ryoma quickly stashed the book in his bag and turned to look at Momo. "Want to go get some food? I'm starved."

"Sure, just let me do something first." Ryoma pushed Momo backwards until his knees hit the bench and he sat down. He straddled Momo's lap draping his arms around Momo's neck for support.

"Echizen?" Momo asked, wide eyed in surprise as Ryoma stroked his cheek and stared deep into his eyes with those fiery golden spheres. Momo had seen that intense look of determination before, but only on the tennis court. What was his friend doing?

"I don't like to lose." Ryoma cupped Momo's face gently in his hands. He closed his eyes and kissed Momo's cheek lightly. He pulled away just a hair and moved closer to Momo's mouth kissing him again. He continued his trail of kisses until their lips met. Ryoma held Momo's head still and tilted his own as the book had suggested. He puckered his lips and sucked lightly on Momo's mouth. The kiss lasted for a few seconds before they broke apart. Ryoma smirked triumphantly.

"Better?"

"Much less painful." Momo grinned. Trust the snarky little freshman to bounce back so quickly.

Ryoma leaned in again. He had just been reading about something else he wanted to try and after the first one he had the confidence to do it. His lips met Momo's, opened a bit wider than before. Slowly, he slid his tongue between his lips and pried Momo's open. Momo got the hint and pushed against Ryoma's tongue with his own. This kiss lasted much longer and when they pulled apart both of them were panting for breath.

"That was," Momo fumbled for an explanation hoping that Ryoma couldn't feel the erection he was starting to have. Damn the boy could kiss and that last one had sent sparks straight to his groin. Ryoma climbed off of him and picked up his bag.

"How was that one?" He knew the answer. From his position on Momo's lap his friend's reaction had been hard to miss.

"I think you definitely should have saved that last one for someone you love," Momo said breathlessly.

Ryoma blushed and looked his friend straight in the eye. "I did, Momo-chan." He turned and walked out leaving his senpai to consider what he had said. He had done all he could and the rest was up to Momo.

Momo watched his friend walk away, his lips still tingling from the kiss. "That guy," he whispered with a smile on his face. If that had really been the freshman's first kiss, then that amazing beginner's luck was good for a lot more than sports. Momo laughed and changed his clothes as quickly as he could. The kid was good, but luck and talent could only take you so far. He picked up his bag and followed Echizen out the door.

"Practice makes perfect," he said.

**Ooo The End ooO**


End file.
